System, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to controlling a vehicle to selectively collect event data. In one embodiment, a method includes, in response to receiving a collection request from a remote server, identifying defined parameters from the collection request about which data is to be harvested from the vehicle. The defined parameters include at least a content parameter that indicates criteria for determining which data associated with the vehicle is to be collected. The method includes collecting, from one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle, event data as a function of the content parameter and discarding extraneous data that does not match the content parameter. The method includes providing the event data to fulfill the collection request.